Coming up on October 1, 2009 is the first milestone for anyone producing customer-facing bills and statements in the consumer credit card or consumer loan space. Beginning in October and ending July 1, 2010 are a series of hurdles that redefine the requirements of what must appear in these customer-facing documents. The new rules govern everything from formatting requirements to additional types of information to be provided on page one.

For most billers this is old news. Keeping an eye on regulatory guidelines and changes is part of the requirement of printing bills and statements. Most billers have active projects to redesign their customer-facing documents to meet the new regulations so they will be ready well ahead of the deadlines.

In addition to simplified disclosure language, some of the design requirements to be met by July 1, 2010 include:

A summary table, with specified type sizes and weights, and specific placement of some information.
- Interest charges & fees must be grouped separately, w/ a monthly total for each.
- Interest charges must be itemized according to the type of transaction (such as interest charged on purchases, and interest charged on cash advances).
- Separate year-to-date totals for fees and interest charges are also required

Rules require some specific formatting that could add requirements for 3-4 inches on statement page 1
- New line item breakout for fees and interest paid
- Late payment warnings located close to due date
- Reporting for year-to-date fees and interest paid
- Minimum payment due must identify time to payoff making minimum payments. If only an example is given there must be a phone contact to get customer actual information.
- The Schumer Box (required since 2000) includes:
    - Annual fee (if applicable)
    - Annual Percentage Rate (APR) for purchases
    - Other APRs (balance transfers, cash advances, default APRs)
    - Grace period
    - Finance calculation method
    - Other transaction fees (balance transfers, cash advances, late payments, over the credit limit)

Credit card companies are required to list long-term rates in at least 18-point type and other key disclosures in 12-point type.
- New sections needed if terms are changing; 45 day advance notice.

While these requirements start out for credit card statements, they are being adopted for consumer loans, education loans, mortgages and most other billing applications in financial services. It also appears to be moving into the area of solicitations, so even direct mailers will need to keep an eye on the regulations!

Need to know more.. let me know!

In the last installment I promised that this time we would visit TILA and UDAP - The 1968 Truth in Lending (TILA) statute that includes Regulation Z and the Unfair and Deceptive Acts or Practices (UDAP) section of the FTC Act that includes Regulation AA, focusing on consumer credit cards. On July 1, 2010 the requirements for disclosures, the time to make payments, and even formatting constraints will be regulated by these two regulations and more that are likely to follow. While the initial push for Regulation Z is to create a more customer-centric approach to disclosures, notifications, and changes, and Regulation AA impacts how much time consumers have to make payments and how interest rate increases must be managed, there will be many more changes that emerge. In the short term the biggest changes will be in the requirements for Page One of consumer-facing credit card and consumer loan statements.

For the first time the government will regulate the content and some of the formatting of any consumer-facing document that contains credit information. Combined with the requirement for 21 days between mailing date and payment due date, you can guess that this will have a wide ranging impact on many of the organizations that print bills and statements, whether they are in-house or print for pay.  Some estimate that even the most basic application of the new rules could cause the addition of billions of pages each year.

Need to know more.. let me know!  And stay tuned. We'll look at more detail in upcoming episodes!

In a recent blogpost one of the folks I read, Oscar Dubbeldam, postulated that TransPormo is really fiction because people only those over 55 who work in marketing were the likeliest participants in TransPromo interaction.

It's an interesting theory which Mr. Dubbeldam derived from a LinkedIn poll (which I participated in). But, honestly, is that a fair review? I think not!  The folks who come to LinkedIn are internet-savvy and generally more wired than most. Further, the questions did not give you a lot of options.

Here is my response to Mr. Dubbeldam:

It's an interesting take. I generally look at TransPromo as just one more tool in an Integrated Customer Communication toolbox. It's the the goal. It's just one possible option. When I was speaking regularly about statement-based marketing throughout the 1990s it was always with the caveat that using the statement to expand the conversation with the customer only works if you take the time to create a great user-friendly communication design and ensure that you use what you know about your customer to ensure that you only speak about timely and relevant things. And, that means timely and relevant to the customer, not the company.

I'll disagree - I don't believe it's fiction. I have evidence from around the world that well-practiced transpromo will provide value and ROMI.

What do you think?

Have a question? Drop me a note at pat.mcgrew@kodak.com or DM Twitter at PatMcGrew to get my attention!

Hunkeler Innovations Days 2009 - the single most focused trade event of its type for people who print direct mail and transaction documents - is now closed. The Hunkeler family are the most gracious hosts, making the event involve many types of print devices and the full range of Hunkeler equipment seem easy.

In fact, it is not easy, but completely worthwhile.

For Kodak:

• Leads - 160+ on a plan of 100
• Sales Team Members supporting the show - I lost count! But each one contributed their languages, their knowledge, and their endurance
• Marketing Team Members supporting the show - Never enough, but each one ensured we had the right applications demonstrating our equipment and our partner's equipment to its best.
• Marketing Communication Team Members supporting the show - a team lead by Gudrun Baunach and well supported by Isabelle Vanderstichelen who worked the entire show and kept everything well managed
• Best line of the show - Andreas Nielen-Haberl's description of Dimensional Clear - "Print you can feel"
• Working with the multi-lingual, multi-talented EAMER Team - Priceless!

Have a question, drop me a note at pat.mcgrew@kodak.com or DM Twitter at PatMcGrew to get my attention!

Here in Luzern, Switzerland winter is still in full force, with drippy wet weather, snow on the ground, and dark skies. On the inside of the Allmend Trade Fair, home of the Hunkeler Innovation Days again this year, it gets quite warm once all of the printers, inserters, and other equipment gets going.

Our goal for Kodak was to walk away from this show with 100 qualified leads for equipment and services. Erwin Busselot (see his blog, too!) was confident as the show opened, but we knew not to be over confident. These are tough times and we know that even an attendee who comes to look may not want to share their contact information. The great news is that at the end of day two we are over 80 leads, and they are good leads with solid conversations behind them.

Hunkeler is a focused trade event. It draws companies with continuous feed equipment, so when they arrive they are well educated about the basics and come to look for innovation, thought leadership, and roadmaps to the future. Well, ok... they are looking for good deals, too. The Kodak stand has been a destination as people have been coming to look at the NexPress and the VL2000, as well as the print samples that explore the possibilities.

Erwin has some great pictures. I hope he shares some in his blog. I'll grab my Zi6 and get some more shots tomorrow!

One other event took place today in concert with Hunkeler Innovation Days; DoxNet. This is a user community of business document professionals based in Germany. There are some great, innovative customers who participate, and Kodak EAMER Business Development guy Thomas Wimmer was one of the invited speakers!

I'll find out more from Thomas as to how it went and share that tomorrow as well! Have a question about the show, drop me a note at pat.mcgrew@kodak.com or DM Twitter at PatMcGrew to get my attention!

Since 1994 the team at Hunkeler have hosted the one place to be seen if you deal in print. The Hunkeler equipment includes the winders, unwinders and other finishing equipment essential to roll-fed printing. Because they partner with all of the major digital print providers, the Hunkeler Innovation Days attracts print hardware vendors, supporting companies like paper manufacturers, and the customers who use Hunkeler equipment looking for the latest innovations from their current vendors and opportunities from the other participating vendors.



This year the Kodak stand was brought to life by Erwin Busselot and his team in EAMER, supported by sales team members from all over Europe. It includes a VL2000 printing a great application co-developed by Kodak's Thomas Wimmer and the team at GMC in Europe and great applications on the NexPress to show off the new dimensional clear ("Print you can feel") solution.

Day one is always interesting because all of the vendors are catching up with old friends and checking out what is in each booth. The best conversations, though, are always with customers who come with challenging questions. It's great to be able to surprise them with announcements and new ideas.



Today included the Kodak Press Briefing, with Kevin Joyce, VP of Sales and Marketing for our Digital Printing Solutions, explaining the Kodak long term view. Marie-Luce Delaune from EAMER  IPS Product marketing announced the new Kodak VERSAMARK VL4000 and VL6000 extensions to the VL2000 family of highspeed drop on demand printers, and also talked about our new offering of dye-based ink for that equipment. Andreas Nielen-Haberl. EAMER Product marketing for the NexPress solutions followed with the discussion of Dimension Clear and came up with the line "Print you can feel" to emphasize the value proposition.

Tomorrow should be more fun. I'll be back with more!
 


Have a question about the show, drop me a note at pat.mcgrew@kodak.com or DM Twitter at PatMcGrew to get my attention!